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Kent Desormeaux
Kent Jason Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes three times each, and the Belmont Stakes once. Aboard Real Quiet, he lost the 1998 Triple Crown by a nose.
From a Cajun family, Desormeaux grew up in a rural farming area located a few miles outside Maurice, Louisiana and attended North Vermilion High School. His brother, J. Keith Desormeaux, older by three years, is a race horse trainer. Desormeaux was a member of the local 4-H club, and was first exposed to race-riding at age 12. "The bush tracks were all around us, and our dad decided he might want to delve into horse racing and bought a bush track Acadiana Downs," explained his brother. "We lived in an agricultural area but we weren't farmers. Even before we got into racing, we all had horses to ride growing up."
Desormeaux was sixteen years old when he began working as an apprentice jockey at the Evangeline Downs racetrack in Lafayette, Louisiana. On July 13, 1986, he rode Miss Tavern to his first career victory. He won his first career stakes race on December 13 of that year, riding Godbey in the Maryland City Handicap at Laurel Park Racecourse. For 1986, he had 55 wins from 525 starts.
"I think as an apprentice I was probably cheating. It's kind of like the guy that comes in from Panama and has already been riding for three or four years. As all my Cajun brethren have, we have a head start. It's what launched my career. I showed up in Maryland with added skills."
His success led him to move north to compete on the Maryland racing circuit, where his winning record earned him the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 1987. While racing in Maryland from 1987 to 1989, Desormeaux won more races than any other jockey in North America. He is one of only four jockeys to have won three national titles in a row. In 1987, he had 450 wins from 2,207 starts with earnings of $5.1 million. In 1988, he improved to 474 wins from 1,897 starts and earnings of $6.3 million. He got his first mount in the Kentucky Derby in 1988, finishing 16th.
In 1989 Desormeaux won his third jockey title, and set an American record for most wins in a year with 598; the previous record had been 546. The record still stands. That year, Desormeaux competed in 2,312 races, earning $9.1 million. He also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He became the third jockey to win the Eclipse Award in both the apprentice and overall categories, Chris McCarron and Steve Cauthen being the others.
In 1990, he moved to the highly competitive southern California circuit. He later explained, "If I wanted to be in the Kentucky Derby or Breeders' Cup, I had to make a change." Desormeaux would soon win his first major stakes race, the San Juan Capistrano Invitational, then a Grade 1 race at Santa Anita with a purse of $500,000. As a result of the move, Desormeaux's number of wins declined to 220 in 1990, a 60% decrease from 1989. His earnings were less affected, totaling $7.1 million in 1990, a 22% decrease from the year before, a result of the higher purses generally available in California. In 1992, Desormeaux became the regular rider of Best Pal, who put together a string of four graded stakes wins, including the Santa Anita Handicap. He would later call Best Pal his favorite horse to ride. "Best Pal may not have been the fastest horse I ever rode...but what that horse was, was push button."
On December 11, 1992, at Hollywood Park, Desormeaux was thrown when the horse he was riding, Judge Hammer, shied during the stretch drive. He was then kicked in the head by a trailing horse, resulting in multiple skull fractures and a permanent hearing deficit. Prior to the fall, Desormeaux had been on pace to break José A. Santos' then-current earnings record of $14.8 million. Desormeaux fell just short with earnings of $14.1 million, but still won the national earnings title. He also received his second Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey.
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Kent Desormeaux
Kent Jason Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes three times each, and the Belmont Stakes once. Aboard Real Quiet, he lost the 1998 Triple Crown by a nose.
From a Cajun family, Desormeaux grew up in a rural farming area located a few miles outside Maurice, Louisiana and attended North Vermilion High School. His brother, J. Keith Desormeaux, older by three years, is a race horse trainer. Desormeaux was a member of the local 4-H club, and was first exposed to race-riding at age 12. "The bush tracks were all around us, and our dad decided he might want to delve into horse racing and bought a bush track Acadiana Downs," explained his brother. "We lived in an agricultural area but we weren't farmers. Even before we got into racing, we all had horses to ride growing up."
Desormeaux was sixteen years old when he began working as an apprentice jockey at the Evangeline Downs racetrack in Lafayette, Louisiana. On July 13, 1986, he rode Miss Tavern to his first career victory. He won his first career stakes race on December 13 of that year, riding Godbey in the Maryland City Handicap at Laurel Park Racecourse. For 1986, he had 55 wins from 525 starts.
"I think as an apprentice I was probably cheating. It's kind of like the guy that comes in from Panama and has already been riding for three or four years. As all my Cajun brethren have, we have a head start. It's what launched my career. I showed up in Maryland with added skills."
His success led him to move north to compete on the Maryland racing circuit, where his winning record earned him the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 1987. While racing in Maryland from 1987 to 1989, Desormeaux won more races than any other jockey in North America. He is one of only four jockeys to have won three national titles in a row. In 1987, he had 450 wins from 2,207 starts with earnings of $5.1 million. In 1988, he improved to 474 wins from 1,897 starts and earnings of $6.3 million. He got his first mount in the Kentucky Derby in 1988, finishing 16th.
In 1989 Desormeaux won his third jockey title, and set an American record for most wins in a year with 598; the previous record had been 546. The record still stands. That year, Desormeaux competed in 2,312 races, earning $9.1 million. He also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He became the third jockey to win the Eclipse Award in both the apprentice and overall categories, Chris McCarron and Steve Cauthen being the others.
In 1990, he moved to the highly competitive southern California circuit. He later explained, "If I wanted to be in the Kentucky Derby or Breeders' Cup, I had to make a change." Desormeaux would soon win his first major stakes race, the San Juan Capistrano Invitational, then a Grade 1 race at Santa Anita with a purse of $500,000. As a result of the move, Desormeaux's number of wins declined to 220 in 1990, a 60% decrease from 1989. His earnings were less affected, totaling $7.1 million in 1990, a 22% decrease from the year before, a result of the higher purses generally available in California. In 1992, Desormeaux became the regular rider of Best Pal, who put together a string of four graded stakes wins, including the Santa Anita Handicap. He would later call Best Pal his favorite horse to ride. "Best Pal may not have been the fastest horse I ever rode...but what that horse was, was push button."
On December 11, 1992, at Hollywood Park, Desormeaux was thrown when the horse he was riding, Judge Hammer, shied during the stretch drive. He was then kicked in the head by a trailing horse, resulting in multiple skull fractures and a permanent hearing deficit. Prior to the fall, Desormeaux had been on pace to break José A. Santos' then-current earnings record of $14.8 million. Desormeaux fell just short with earnings of $14.1 million, but still won the national earnings title. He also received his second Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey.
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